


How Bucky met Sam (Never Volunteer For a Time Travel Mission)

by TheSourceOfAll



Series: Seriously, Don't Do It! [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Sam Wilson, Bucky needs to stop dying, Fix-It, Gen, Lots of Cursing, Sam Is So Done, Sam is Not Amused, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 18:10:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7724617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSourceOfAll/pseuds/TheSourceOfAll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam is tired of your shit, man. He is so tired that he is thinking about himself in third person. Is it too much to ask for you to stop getting yourself killed? I mean, this is the twenty second time I have to go back and save your sorry ass. Clint would be rolling on the floor if he knew. I would never be able to live it down, not to mention being around Tony.</p><p> </p><p>Sam goes back in time to prevent Bucky from becoming the Winter Soldier, except Bucky keeps finding other ways to die/become the Winter Soldier.  Forward in time, Bucky and Steve recognize a familiar face in DC and decide to stalk the poor veteran.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Bucky met Sam (Never Volunteer For a Time Travel Mission)

_Sam is tired of your shit, man. He is so tired that he is thinking about himself in third person. Is it too much to ask for you to stop getting yourself killed? I mean, this is the twenty second time I have to go back and save your sorry ass. Clint would be rolling on the floor if he knew. I would never be able to live it down, not to mention if Tony heard about it._

The former para-rescue glared at the display in front of him before resuming his pacing. No matter how many times he saved Barnes, he would return to his current time to find the Commando had died a couple days after his rescue. Sam would be ripping his hair out if he was able. Instead, he chose to yell at the picture of the fallen soldier all the things he couldn’t say in person. Starting with “What the fuck is wrong with you?” and followed by an equally explosive description of all the ways he could have avoided dying.

Sam’s usual calm demeanor had gone out the window by the twelfth time the sergeant had died, this time due to tripping on a land mine, and a badly concealed one of all things. No matter what he did Bucky I-Have-A-Death-Wish Barnes found a way to get himself killed. And Sam, the poor bastard that he was, refused to get the hint and kept going back over and over again. He’d taken down snipers, triggered traps before the Commandoes got close enough to fall victim and fought more Nazi/HYDRA soldiers than he cared for and _STILL_ , the asshole got himself killed.

What was meant to be a simple save Bucky from becoming the Winter Soldier and ultimately destroying the Avengers had turned into a month long operation, with each trip back in time becoming more and more complex. It was the universe’s way of saying ‘fuck you’ and Sam’s insistence of trying yet again was his ‘fuck you too, universe’. So he took a deep breath, wondering if he was done cursing the Sergeant to hell and back or if he still had some more pent up anger stored somewhere. It was only two in the morning, he knew he had some time before one of the Smithsonian’s guards would walk by, and more than enough to get out before the museum opened. He decided on one more trip and this time, he would keep Barnes alive or so help him, he would kill every HYDRA member himself, the timeline be damned.

*****

The objective was simple, don’t let Barnes fall from the train. He’d changed the timeline so many times that this one was nearly the same as his original one. He could hear Natasha’s voice in his head “Stick to the basics, keep it simple. There’s no reason to make it more complicated than it has to be”. If only Barnes had received that memo. He stretched his sore muscles and went on to set up the device that would throw him back to the forties.

He would fly down and take care of as many HYDRA soldiers as he could before the three Commandos boarded the train. Hopefully, without attracting too much attention, then leave without being seen. Not being seen was the hardest part. There could be no witnesses and since killing a Commando or worse, Captain America, was out of the picture, he had to time it so that he got out while the three were getting in. No one would see a strange man flying off a high speed train. Being catapulted forward in time from the train would probably kill him, or so Stark and Strange thought. Sam didn’t want to take any chances so he was going to fly to solid ground before activating his very own time machine.

****

“Here goes nothing” Sam launched himself up in the air immediately moving towards the first cart of the train. Once there he began to slow down counting how many people were in each compartment. There were twenty-eight, twenty-six soldiers, he assumed, Zola and the conductor. Sam landed on the last cart, thankful for all the upgrades Stark had done to his gear, and began making his way towards the front of the train while taking out the soldiers he came across.

Of course it wouldn’t be easy, when was it ever? Half way through the train he heard what could only be the commandos landing on top of the train. Sam had to get out and fast before the Commandos found him. He had no intention of dying, much less by being mistaken for HYDRA. Would they think he was HYDRA?  The Ex/Would be Avenger decided not to risk it, even if he was black. That was probably the only time being black could lower his chances of getting shot in the history of ever. Rhodey would get a kick out of hearing that, not that he would get a change to tell him. Changing the timeline meant he never met the Avengers, at least not yet and even then, talking about knowing an alternate version of yourself and time travel is a quick way to being institutionalized.

Sam picked up his pace, there were still too many hostiles in the train for his liking and knowing Barnes, he’d trip on his shoelaces and fall off on his own without any HYDRA help.

**Fourteen, thirteen.**

He made quick work of dispatching the hostiles thanks to Natasha and Clint’s insistence on kicking his ass for two hours every day since forever.

**Twelve, Eleven.**

He wondered if he should join SHIELD once he got back and start cleaning up the place. No one was going to suspect a psychologist, would they? Maybe he should go into Accounting. Ten targets left and his alarm started flashing. It was time to go. He _really_ hoped Barnes didn’t fall. Three commandos were more than enough to handle ten HYDRA goons without causalities.

***

They weren’t. Sam was on top of the train getting ready to take off when he heard the blast. The side of the cart had been blown open and guess who was holding on for dear life? “Fucking Barnes” Sam growled, wings expanding as he jumped off after the sergeant. Stealth be damned.

A part of him felt guilty at the look of utter terror the Sergeant was giving him, a very small part and therefore easily ignored while the rest of him thought it served him right for continuously making Sam’s job difficult. Sam supposed it made sense, after all, not only was Barnes falling to his death but now there was a man with massive metal wings getting closer and closer.  He’d passed Steve at a speed that rendered him nothing more than a blue blur on his way down and managed to grab the Commando by his jacket while slowing down his momentum. If anyone later accused him of purposely letting go of the terrified soldier to fall the remaining foot between him and the ground, he would deny. He was a psychologist, not a saint.

He landed silently in the snow, his wings retracting with the ease of someone who had done it countless times. So much for not being seen.  Sam decided he’d have to change tactics while watching the man scramble away from him. “You have got to stop getting yourself killed” He would’ve glared to show he meant business but he had the specialized goggles Stark had made on. “Twenty-three times, do you hear me? I saved your ass twenty-three times since you stepped a foot on this God forsaken continent, no more. I. Am. _Done_. You get your stupid ass in line because I’m done saving you. Next time, I’m letting you die.”  Barnes nodded quickly despite the fact that he was too busy gawking at Sam to properly understand what was being said.

After staring at Bucky some more he finally took the time to check his surroundings. Natasha would be so disappointed in him. Luckily, there wasn’t anything but snow and some trees. “I suppose I have to get you back to your team” He tried to remember where the Captain and Jones would be getting off the train with Zola. It was a bit far but nothing he couldn’t make. Maybe he should drop him off on the train, but he couldn’t fly faster than the train while carrying Bucky, the man wasn’t dressed for that kind of travel. “Come on, up you go. I don’t have all day” It was obvious the Sergeant was weary of him, never mind Sam had just saved his life. “Look man, we’re on the same side here. I’m just going to take you to your meeting point than be on my way” He offered his hand to pull him to his feet and this time Bucky took it. “Where?” Bucky didn’t take his eyes off of him. “Your meeting point?” Sam wondered if he had hit his head on the fall. “where are you going?” Bucky corrected. “That’s classified” Sam was not about to make even more of a mess, Barnes could draw his own conclusions.

**

The trip was fairly uneventful, most of it was done in silence interrupted every now and then when the Commando would ask something and Sam replied with ‘Classified’. By the time they arrived Sam had been contemplating letting go of him, he wouldn’t let him hit the ground obviously. That would defeat the purpose of saving him in the first place, while Barnes, knowing he wasn’t going to get answers continued to ask questions just to annoy him.

“What’s your name?” “Classified”

“Who do you work for?” “Classified”

“Where are you from?” “Classified”

“How old are you?” “Classified”

“What’s your favorite color?” “Classified”

“Do you listen to Baseball?” “Classified”

“Baseball?” “My very existence is classified”

“That’s No-” “What’s your opinion on global warming?”

“I-I don’t know what that is” “Exactly, now shut up before I drop you”

**Author's Note:**

> I think the world needs a little more appreciation for Sam Wilson, he doesn't get nearly as much love as he should.  
> With that being said, I hope you enjoy reading this story.


End file.
